The collision that likely ended Buster Posey's season was brutal to watch, but not evidence that rule changes must be made. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)

Chris Gimenez comes from a family of San Francisco Giants fans, so he knows well the lamentations of the home-plate collision that likely ended the season of Giants catcher Buster Posey on Wednesday.

“Everyone’s just like, ‘Man, what are we gonna do?’” the Mariners catcher said, aptly summarizing the frustration of a fan base that must watch its team play the rest of the year without its young star.

So, yeah, the Giants have some questions to answer. And the vicious (though not mean-spirited) nature of the hit laid on Posey by Florida Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins has some wondering – including Posey and San Francisco’s general manager – if this now means Major League Baseball has some explaining to do, as well.

“You have to slide into other bases,” Giants GM Brian Sabean told the Associated Press. “Why shouldn’t you have to slide into home plate?”

He’s got a point, though the hope here is that any pleas to the league about modifying home-plate collision rules are politely fielded, considered and rejected.

This isn’t an epidemic. Catchers take a beating on a regular basis. Always have, always will.

As Mariners manager and former catcher Eric Wedge put it: “I got my ass drove into the ground more than once, I can tell you that much.”

And you certainly can’t fault Cousins for doing what he could to get to the plate on a bang-bang play in a tied game in the 12th inning.

So while Gimenez, a catcher, grimaced as he watched replays of the Posey hit, he knows the play was more aberration than premeditation. And if you watch the clip, you’ll see that the throw forces Posey to his knees, the worst place a catcher can be with a runner barreling down the third base line.

Had he been able to stay on his feet, it’s likely the blow would have simply knocked him on his rear end, causing nothing more than momentary stars-in-eyes syndrome. Instead, Posey’s cleat appeared to catch in the dirt, Cousins plowed him at full speed, and Posey left the field with a broken bone in his leg and three torn ligaments in his ankle.

That’s not an indictment of Posey, of course. He did nothing wrong here, and he’s a Major League catcher, so he knows as well as anyone that the most prudent course of action on a play at the plate is to keep his toe pointed up the third base line and stay on his feet. But the location of the throw simply didn’t allow for that.

All of which should illustrate just how little it takes for a standard play at the plate to turn devastating. And more importantly, how silly it would be to change the rules based on one bad-luck incident.

Difficult as it is to say – and for Giants fans to hear – these things just happen sometimes, rules or no rules, malicious intent or not.

“You know, you tip your hat to Buster and you probably give Cousins a pat on the butt and say it’s too bad,” said Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan, whose opinion I sought due to his rugged base-running style. “He didn’t have to block the plate. That’s kind of what it comes down to. You don’t want to say that about someone that’s rolling around on the ground, but …”

But it’s true. As with most situations in baseball, there is some etiquette that applies to base runners challenging a catcher. And if this particular throw had beaten Cousins by 15 feet and he still launched himself full-speed into Posey in an attempt to knock the ball out, then, well, we’re having a different conversation today.

Also, to answer Sabean’s previous question, catchers are the only players on the diamond who attempt to block the base they’re covering. Shin guards help. Ever see a third-baseman put his leg in front of the bag in a willing attempt to absorb a charging base-runner’s cleat-first slide?

What we have here, then, is a can of worms that would best remain sealed. Should catchers even be blocking the plate? Doesn’t the runner have a right to the space in front of him? How much can you fine or suspend a guy who makes a split-second decision with the game on the line, considering only what he has to do to help his team win?

Gimenez, Ryan and Mariners third baseman Chone Figgins all told me the same thing – that players should slide, if at all possible. Contact with the catcher should be kept to a minimum. But not out of courtesy. It’s just much easier to get a piece of the plate if you get down.

“If you’re able to put your body in better position to touch the plate, you’re sliding,” Gimenez said. “I think sliding’s a better way to go, but there are plenty of times where I feel like the guy’s blocking the plate. If he purposely catches the ball and is standing right on the plate, guys aren’t going to slide.”

“It should be a last-case resort,” Ryan said. “You should be going to the plate if it’s available, and if a guy’s blocking home plate, then you have no choice.

“You shouldn’t ever have to go 1 percent out of your way.”

Translation: Slide, slide, slide. Unless you can’t. And that’s a decision based largely on the catcher’s positioning, so while we’re talking about rule changes, perhaps we should consider whether a catcher should have the right to put himself between a large, athletic man and his end destination.

“I think it’s harder to do with bigger guys, for them to make up their minds being 220 pounds,” said Figgins, who added he always slides into home. “It’s hard for them to make up their minds versus slide or run the catcher over.”

That’s what this whole discussion boils down to – these are harried, last-moment-possible decisions made by hyper-competitive athletes. Nobody thinks Cousins was trying to injure Posey. And while there is now a promising young player with a severely injured leg and ankle who likely won’t play again this season, this just doesn’t seem like it should be a catalyst for a major shift in the way the game is played.

“He just got his foot caught in a tough place, just trying to make a big play for his teammates,” Ryan said. “What can you do?”

To the rule book, nothing.

THUMBS UP: Safeco Field security guards

Just because the NFL is locked out doesn’t mean you can’t witness some damn fine form-tackling at a Seattle sporting event.

But the first two idiots provided by far the best entertainment, as each of them were absolutely eviscerated by much faster, stronger security guards. The second trespasser received the most crushing blow, stopping in front of Seattle’s outfielders before taking a blind-side hit from behind.

Which is to say it likely would have been illegal in the NFL.

So both of those guards, whoever they are, deserve a pat on the back today. Nothing better than a well-deserved spearing in the middle of a baseball game.

THUMBS DOWN: Student ticket prices for University of Washington football games

According to The Daily, the newly formed Dawg Pack Task Force signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the athletic department stating that 2011 student ticket prices will be, “$120 for six games in current stadium and current location.”

Except, no, they’re actually not. According to senior associate athletic director O.D. Vincent, anyway. Vincent told The Daily that the two sides agreed to “the same price as last year,” which was $125 – $120 for the seats, plus a mandatory $5 fee for a T-shirt.

And as you might have guessed, the ever-so-student-friendly athletic department ain’t budging. Over $5. For a freaking T-shirt.

This, folks, is why my alma mater will not receive a single dollar from me. Ever. I have no doubt that Vincent and the athletic department are well within their rights to impose a mandatory T-shirt fee, but that doesn’t make it any less ridiculous.

Of course, students should be used to being insulted by the administration by now, seeing as how they were more or less excluded from the conversation that led to the decision to move them to the West end zone in the renovated Husky Stadium, then told how totally super awesome their totally super awesome new seats would be.

You’ll hear more about this topic in this space down the road, unless the athletic department moves me to the end zone first.